There's a fine if generic aliens murdering people/people screwing up story here, but it would be a lot more enjoyable with human-sounding dialogue and a character or two to care about. This is issue #8 with this story since it began in the last volume, or issue #9 if we count the Annual that was a waste of time--in all those comics, staggeringly little character development has occurred. I like most of the art and there's some very good imagery, particularly the bit with all the aliens on the bottom of the ship. That was neat.

On paper, this story should work, but the execution was a mess. The dialogue was poor from start to finish, big clunky monologues during fight scenes can be excused in a cape book, but this is Alien. No characters were developed enough for us to care whether they lived or died except maybe Robo Dad, and all the action and chaos was basically incidental. It meant nothing, and this Marvel Alien series overall has not managed to create a coherent timeline for events to have significance within. The art was high quality, but not a good fit for Alien. Marvel's handling of this license has just been bafflingly weak. Reminds me of all that forgettable Conan stuff they did a few years back. I'm a big Alien fan; I hope they get it figured out.

Yes! We're back on track. There's more storytelling in this book than there was in the past 10 issues of the ongoing series. There's a limit to how interesting an Alien anthology can realistically be, and this execution is good all around. Having a multi-part story within an anthology is not ideal, but it's only one of three, and to be fair, the multi-part one looks promising. Of the three stories here, there are no standouts as being especially strong or weak; they're all solid. I thought Ryan Cady's story was the strongest personally, but this was good across the board, on par with or even higher quality than the old Dark Horse stuff. None of these stories are going to blow minds or change the game, but this is good reading for Alien fans.

The backup stories are much weaker in this issue than the last, but I'll argue that the ongoing one about Utopia is strong enough to carry it. The anthology format is not well-suited to this IP at this point its lifespan, so the fact that it's as good as it is says something. Nice cover art too, although the 20th Century Fox banner is still ugly as sin and completely unforgivable.

Another mixed bag. Ziglar's story in the middle is the weak link by a country mile. I feel like Utopia falters a little here. Foxe's story is fine. This is a tough IP to write for; people really struggle to find interesting things to do with it.

I hope that this is the first of many What Ifs using Alien/Predator. If this is what it takes to do something interesting with this IP, so be it. The ongoing series has been a frustratingly mixed bag, and there's only so much the current anthology mini can do. This is the first time since Marvel got the license that they've done something sort of creative with it.

I feel as though I can see where it's going, but that doesn't change the fact that this is probably Marvel's most interesting Alien comic so far.

The extra story at the back isn't anything special, but the TPB does it's job and this was my favorite comic of 2023. It works on every level. Its only flaw is that it isn't longer.

It's a breezy read, but the whole gang war premise isn't working for me. I know we have to accept comic book logic to a point, but the aggressive level of fundamental silliness combined with this deeply unlikable take on Peter just is not clicking. I think it might be down to how bonkers dumb the gang war itself is next to how seriously the C-list bad guys are taking it and then we're doing West Side Story in Central Park? Tone is all over the place. This story could've worked as a comedy or as a serious comic, but it's not either of those things.

This issue is probably the highlight of this event so far; it was a nice, brisk read and it felt good all around but none of the emotional/serious material lands in any meaningful way. The connection to the characters just isn't here. This event would've worked better as a more modest 5 or 6 issue arc rather than a big crossover event.

This is a poor showing no matter how you look at it. It's readable and mostly harmless in that it's not doing anything offensive, but the dialogue is weirdly flat and clunky while the event itself is underwhelming and somewhat nonsensical. Was this supposed to be in some way climactic? A more restrained conclusion would've been fine if there had been some emotional stakes or something, but this does not gel. There are flashes of charm here and there and the art is good, but it's inexplicably mediocre all around, especially for a book that I would think is one of Marvel's flagship titles. It feels dated, but not in a way that works positively by tapping into nostalgia.

Good looking cover on this one, although I miss the days when covers generally had something in common with the content of the issue. This issue felt like a step in the right direction in that Peter's actual life seems a bit neglected in this run, so it's nice to see him interacting with people even if none of it seems particularly meaningful. I'm not super stoked to see the Sinister Six. That's not very fresh; Peter's been fighting them for 60 years. Is that why we're doing this again? 60 year anniversary?

This issue is certifiably okay in every respect, but it's also deeply lackluster. Nothing ever gets its due. Wells signaled this thing with the lawyer ages ago with like 2 pages, and then there's 2 pages here*. The interactions with MJ are unsatisfying. The antics of the S6 are generic to the point of parody. The writing here is too patient and not nearly ambitious enough and the result is the opposite of gripping. *It's Ben. Ben is doing this. Obviously. This foreshadowing isn't generating suspense, it's just telling us exactly what's going to happen. That's not foreshadowing; that's telegraphing.

This seemed mostly fine.

"Dark Knight Returns but Captain America" annoys me as a premise because it's not exactly the freshest idea, but they have executed it here about as well as it can be done. Sometimes you don't have to be original; sometimes it's enough to just do a really good job. This book seems rock solid.

This book is staying strong. Zdarsky is speedrunning some vaguely Hickmanesque setup, and that brisk, economical storytelling is 100% okay. Good stuff.

Outstanding in pretty much every way.

Maybe a little too on the nose, but there's a wholesomeness in this book that is absent in most other grim future takes, and that lets this book be more than just another Dark Knight Returns homage.

The battle here isn't nearly as interesting as the things leading up to it, but it's still pretty strong stuff.

It has its own style and vibe and is doing something fresh. Good art, grounded writing. It's taking its time with its setup, but I feel as though it works.

Can't say enough good things about this book. It doesn't try to reinvent the wheel or do too much, but what it does, it nails.

This issue doesn't go in the most original direction, but there's still time to go about it in an interesting way and Horvath has given us every reason to have confidence in him to land the plane. This book continues to read well and look amazing. Definitely a standout series.

The art is so good that even when the story isn't at its strongest, this is a pleasure to read.

There's a good enough story being told here, but it's held back by a lot of unnecessary exposition and weak dialogue and characterization. These are colorful, distinguished characters with lots of history, yet they're being written as all largely bland and interchangeable as they stand around and tell each other what the plot is. There's a lot to like here; the inclusion of Cass Cain, all this emphasis on Zealot--meanwhile, this is the limpest Dinah ever and the interesting relationship between her and Sin is completely ignored along with the potential of all these good characters. I feel like I see what the book is going for, and with less exposition and more believable dialogue it could be really strong. The art is still great.

This is looking up! The issue starts with the flat, unnecessary dialogue that's been weighing the series down, but it quickly perked up after that and for the first time in this run, it hit some notes that actually felt like BoP. I will say that I've liked the art so far, however, it doesn't always make for the most expressive faces--and that flatness may have added to the problem of some already clunky, superfluous dialogue killing the pace. I was starting to worry. I wasn't expecting it to go the fan service route, but if this is what it takes to get this story moving, I can live with it.

This is tough! The ending is so aggressively dumb and obnoxious, but most of the issue was really channeling Gail Simone in a good way. This book has the voice and the vibe now, but the storytelling still needs to catch up.

The story seems fine, but the melodramatic, going through the motions, AO3-level dialogue with a truly irresponsible amount of "..."s in every sentence made it kind of a slog, particularly toward the back end. The old "Ribs broken" inner monologue box is a little worn out in 2024, and that lazy/generic vibe is present in a lot of the issue. Waiting until issue 2 to reveal important information is a time-honored tradition, yet it feels especially contrived in this issue with the superfluous dialogue padding out the last few pages as these people say everything they possibly can to avoid getting to the point. These aren't the worst comic book sins, but they're irksome for 4.99.

There are some improvements here over the first issue, but also some baffling stuff. I wish I could just call it bland and underwhelming, but there are a lot of issues here and are we really trying to play this straight with undercover spy zero-disguise Clint Barton? I know some editors if Marvel needs some.

A definite improvement; things are picking up a bit. I think I figured out why this book has been so underwhelming: this particular Blade is such a loser. He's spent the whole run falling for things, messing up, getting his ass kicked, and having boring expository dialogue asking people for help. He just sucks. And while you can't have your protagonist be godlike all the time, this level of bumbling ineptitude combined with a bland plot is at odds with what many Blade fans probably want from the character, which would be something closer to at least a Wesley Snipes level of being a badass. In any case, I'm glad that it seems to be getting better.

This is the Blade comic that I want. It should not have taken us 9 issues to get here! The background characters of Tulip and what's her name are pretty flat; them having some personality would go a long way.

Blade defeats the ultimate evil using a strat borrowed from (checks notes) Naruto. This run ends the way that it started: bafflingly limp in characterization and thin in narrative. The art was pretty good.

This series continues to be real solid. I'll be sorry to see it end.

Strong as ever on the whole, but still almost too brisk and economical. That works, but the emotional stakes suffer because of it. Also given how visually-driven the films are, more of an emphasis on striking visuals would've pushed this series toward a 10.

Consistently solid and doing a good enough job ramping up for the finale.

Good enough. Time to end.

Great art and atmosphere, but not sure about the pacing. The first two issues felt like a lot of setup, and then we get this third issue which is hugely exposition heavy after two very visual books. Uneven, but I'm game to see how it ends.

This book was a mixed bag. The art is great and the writing feels personal and heartfelt. But the pace is all over the place and the last two issues throw away all the atmosphere and suspense and give us endless exposition and dialogue that is just a slog to get through with no real payoff. All of the actual plot happens in issues 3 and 4; 1 and 2 are only there to establish stakes by connecting us to the characters, but they're so sparse and cryptic that they don't really do that. The pieces here don't come together and the art can't carry it. Some tightening and general editorial help could've really elevated this one.

It's fine. I can't give it a 9 or a 10 because there are no meaningful stakes*; will anyone who matters die (and stay dead)? No. Will the status quo change in an interesting way? No. We're just fighting vampires, which is okay if unspectacular. The designs on the vampire mini bosses are cool even if their dialogue is a little 90s. The whole thing is a little 90s, actually. I don't mind that. It is, at least, much more interesting than the recently ended Blade comic. *also literally

This run continues to be great. It includes everything that a Conan book should have without getting too creative, yet still keeps it fresh*; having Queen of the Black Coast happen between arcs is in my opinion a very elegant way to keep it moving along. It's a simple premise with very solid execution and the quality hasn't wavered in 6 issues. *insofar that Conan can be at this point.

Still going strong, but could be a little more ambitious in the storytelling department. Good overall.

This book continues to be very enjoyable. The pace could be punched up a little, but this is high-quality Conan in art and writing.

"Conan, what is best in life?" "Fan service!"

What more can we ask for from a Conan comic?

Near perfect. Might benefit from more room to breathe or even as an ongoing. The art is great and doing a fair amount of lifting, but everything here works.

I love everything about this book.

Everything here works. This story isn't doing anything mind-blowing, but the sound art/pace/words fundamentals are refreshing. Very enjoyable.

Good art, but this feels unfocused and theology-heavy internal monologues really kill the pace. Big, visually exciting things are happening on the page that just aren't as interesting as they should be. What would we say the plot here is? Matt fights demon-possessed allies one by one until... he doesn't have to anymore? Where are we going? Fighting possessed A and B listers is a passable way to spend a comic, but this is not riveting stuff.

This issue reads easily enough, but the broader thrust of the storyline has me worried. Whether this run is good or bad will depend entirely on where it's going. Matt recognizing that the things that he does are not okay is great... but also meaningless if that realization doesn't lead to change. And is Marvel really going to allow Daredevil to change?

The main ongoing is still on the weak side, but this big issue was consistent in quality across the various stories.

The pace is brisk, but not crowded or choppy. Some of the thriller beats, such as the end of this issue, feel a bit standard and predictable--but the horror notes are working well enough to make up for it. Very enjoyable with strong visuals.

This book continues to be solid with good art, a nice pace, and a refreshing sense of restraint that elevates a story that feels very assured and isn't trying too hard. Easy to recommend and difficult to find flaws. I might've noticed a misspelled word or something, but in a book this good that's easy to overlook.

The story moves forward without much ceremony here. Of the four issues so far, this is the one with the least to offer, although it serves an essential function. The length and pacing in this issue and this mini as a whole are a little odd, but ultimately it more or less works. We could be a little more connected to the characters, but that disconnect may be deliberate--although it does limit the book's ability to be suspenseful when we aren't able to fully care about/trust the leads. It sure feels like a bleak finish is being telegraphed here. Will the twist make good on the premise? Will Snyder stick the landing and deliver a satisfactory ending? I hope so; I've really enjoyed this book.

The idea behind this book was strong and several elements of the execution were good. But the most frightening aspects were underutilized, the 'twist' was telegraphed very early, and overall this is just the most generic, lazy, predictable ending *ever*. It's not a bad series, but to be a really good one it needed to find a way to end that every Saw and Saw-adjacent property in history hasn't already done repeatedly.

This didn't work for me. I see what they were going for, but this didn't gel. These stories are harmless individually and insubstantial as a collection.

Strong overall in art and writing; the only problem I see is that so far it hasn't done anything particularly interesting in the storytelling department.

Antics! Jokes! Characterization! This is quite good.

This book knows what it is and doesn't try to be anything else. It pretty much works. The plot hook is bland but serviceable and the dialogue could be a little funnier, but the art is great and the facial expressions do a lot of lifting. Given the expectations for, as Elvira put it, a 'Dynamite funnybook,' I'd say that this is looking pretty solid as long as you aren't expecting the next Watchmen or Maus from it.

Charming and fun. I'm enjoying it.

If we accept the premise that modern X-men is just... its own language and culture intended for a very specific audience of psychopaths that are completely fine with having to do postgrad work to read and understand comics, then this is good, punchy content that moves the story forward. It's also pretty messy. There's a good story here, but it's not being told optimally, although that may be a function of it being told across a gazillion titles by a bunch of different guys. I generally like Duggan, but we can do better than this.

Mutants vs Fascists is a more compelling premise for me than Mutants vs tedious DBZ power creep AI God Final Boss. This single issue is fine all around, but the broader story that it exists within just isn't fitting together as well as it could and the experience suffers because of it.

It's a good story, but it could be told much better than this.

Very solidly executed. Swapping cats for people and rabies for zombies is a perfectly good idea. I just wish it was hinting at something more interesting than generic zombie story plot beats (but with cats). I will say that even just the slight environmental storytelling that we see of the human side of the situation is very cool. Not enough to keep me buying personally, but I'm a dog person.

You have to know what you're in for with Hickman at this point, so this kind of indulgent storytelling is to be expected. These early issues are built entirely on trust that Hickman knows how to land the plane, which I think he's more or less earned. I'm skeptical that this will be Marvel's Sandman--to do that he'd have to be a little more aggressive about giving the characters distinct identities--but on the whole, so far so good.

I'm still not sure about the series as a whole, but this issue flawlessly delivers a genuinely cool, eminently readable, self-contained episode that propels the broader story forward. Good dialogue, great art. This is it. This is what peak comics performance looks like. I don't even *care* about this series, but I can't walk away when it's going this hard.

I could nitpick, but why? Very enjoyable stuff.

There are things here that bother and puzzle me, but I enjoy reading it regardless. It's not perfect, but it's still more engaging and fresh than most of what Marvel is doing.

Ennis has in fact matured a little over the decades, but that is not immediately evident in this particular issue, which reads as though Punisher Max never ended. I don't love everything about Ennis's style but he's a great storyteller. I rolled my eyes a lot back in the day, reading Punisher Max--but that doesn't change the fact that Punisher Max absolutely kicked ass. Ergo, *more* Punisher Max works for me, warts and all.

The art is good and the low-stakes conflicts are refreshing. This book is noticeably less frustrating than the current Gwen mini. It helps to view these stories as having more cartoon sensibilities than comic book sensibilities; they call to mind almost like a Steven Universe vibe--which is not necessarily a bad thing. But if one is looking for something a little more coherent, these recent Gwen books are not it. The low stakes have a downside; a book like this that includes two largely inconsequential little stories feels a little weightless for something that costs 7 bucks.

This would've benefitted from being both funnier and cuter, and it's a potentially deal-breaking flaw that all of the actual romance takes place off-screen at the very end. On the other hand, the art is good, the premise is great, and I really like it when representation is handled well. There's also a limit to how much I can reasonably ask of a one-shot Godzilla Valentine's Day Special, so it may not be fair to be too harsh. Next time, more humor and chemistry between the leads wouldn't hurt. Unrelated, something like this done right could unironically make a tremendous Godzilla movie.

The art and tone are great; this book nails what a HQ comic should feel like perfectly, but the story isn't gripping and the jokes aren't quite at a level to completely make up for that. Endlessly using Harley's trauma as a plot point is also pretty tiresome at this point. Still pretty good overall.

This issue took the job of a tiresome retread of profoundly dead horse HQ material and somehow made it enjoyable to read. Bold to do this when the TV series already did it so well, but it more or less worked. It's a mixed bag of benign pseudo-therapy along with some reasonable insights about insecurity--but that this was readable and even fun is a considerable achievement. I like this book, and I think I'll like it even more with this multiverse stuff behind us.

I've been enjoying this run for the most part, but this issue kind of emphasizes two things that bother me about this take on the character: 1. This Harley is not a great partner 2. This Harley is an even worse therapist Maybe that's the joke, but if so, it's getting stale.

If the HQ ongoing was just this, I'd be fine with it. This type of thing is the best use of the character. Great art.

Wonderful. The storytelling and craftmanship here are good enough that this would be an engaging book even without the fantastical elements. Of the two leads, the governess is by far the more likable and interesting. Very promising.

Near perfect.

I feel like it's losing steam a little bit in #14, but this is the most I've ever enjoyed an Iron Man book on the whole.

I'd hoped for Tony's grand plan that he's been hinting at for all this time to be something a little cleverer than "Build a Gundam" but I guess you have to give the people what they want. There were a million more sensible, simple, and logical ways for Tony to achieve his goals, but then we wouldn't get to see Tony's Gundam punch Feilong's Gundam in the face, so obviously this was the best way. I'm here for it.

The story here is enjoyable. The writing in this issue didn't all work for me, but overall this is good stuff in a good run. I made a mistake last issue; I thought Feilong had his own Gundam, not just a suit. (It would have been better if Feilong had his own Gundam)

It's good once you get past the tedious filler that they put there so it doesn't get ahead of the event.

The story is okay and the pacing and art are both good, but the voice and character work are poor.

The story got much more interesting in this one, even if it did wait until the end to do so. The dialogue still swings between weak and painful and the action's a little questionable. These covers are appalling.

The idea of MJ as a cape with Paul as her Great Value Oracle is a workable one, but not with this execution. The narration boxes about her motives are generic to the point of parody, the dialogue doesn't land, and nothing of consequence happens. MJ wanting to do cape stuff to distract from losing her kids is a good enough motivation, but the way that it's handled here is equal parts boring and underbaked, and it doesn't have enough charm to get by on. And what were they thinking with that cover?

This book delivers more or less what it promises on the wrapper, and I think it's actually picking up a bit as it goes on with #3. Will it be successful in selling movie tickets to the movie in March? I don't know, but I trust that Buccaletto will give us a spread in here somewhere of Batman punching a Kaiju in the face, which will make it all worth it.

The parts of this book trying to be serious don't work well, and this issue has a poor Kaiju-punching to other stuff ratio. Lois Lane's handling isn't very interesting and the Batman stuff is immersion-breakingly out of character. A comic where DC capes punch Kaiju should be an easy layup. Let's lean into that.

This book is doing what it set out to do for the most part. It doesn't completely flow, but there are a lot of different ways to handle this concept and playing it completely straight is a tough one to pull off. It feels a bit by the numbers that it's setting things up for Godzilla to save the day, but that's a legitimate homage to the source material. I'd hoped to see Batman punch a kaiju, but instead we'll get Godzilla and Kong wrastlin' Lex Luthor's Mobile Suit Mechagodzilla and a psycho Lazarus pit kaiju. I can live with that. Extra points if Godzilla and Superman shake hands at the end.

These are the shenanigans that I expect from this title. I look forward to Superman and Godzilla saving the day next issue, and I'm still holding out for them to shake hands at the end. Extra points if they make Godzilla an honorary JLA member. I guess Bruce saw that Tony Stark had just built a Gundam, so he had to build one too. It checks out.

#1 seemed solid all around; more than enough there to make me willing to read more. I liked the art, and the storytelling more or less worked. There's a lot of potential in the setup.

Homeward Bound in space with spectacular art. In the words of the great philosopher, Imperator Joe, in the noted documentary Mad Max: Fury Road--"Perfect in every way." (Purrfect?)

This one falters a bit; there's some tonal whiplash and the arguing among the leads is already getting tiresome. The setting is great.

There's nothing overtly wrong with this book apart from it feeling unnecessary, but something is missing from it. I'm not sure what the problem is; it captures the retro vibe that it's going for and the story is functional. It's just a little bland. The fact that it's as readable as it is means they're doing something right.

It's fine for what it is and solidly okay in every department, even if it is ultimately pointless. I'm not clear on why we needed this mini. Is there a large contingent of readers out there clamoring for more old-timey Secret Wars content that I don't know about? This would've worked better as a one-shot.

They aren't all bangers, and #15 felt a little anemic, but pound for pound this is still the top Spider book at least until the new Ultimate gets going. I think the Gang War nonsense might be holding it back a little.

A long fight that does end in resolution, although without any weight to it. This can be blamed partly on the Gang War event, which is weak, and partly on lackluster writing; the art is a little chaotic and for this to work the quips, jokes, and interplay between the characters needs to be the main feature--and that did not stand out here the way that it has at times earlier in this run. I think that this book will go back to being stronger once the event is over. This issue felt like filler, done out of obligation to the event, but a little more spice in the dialogue would've made it easier to forgive. This particular fight also involved entirely too many Z-listers.

Back on track. This book could be doing more great things, but what makes it good is all the annoying things that it's *not* doing. I really like it. I'm glad that Gang War is behind us.

There's a lot to like here.

Pretty solid.

It's leaning a little heavily on offscreen lore and the assumption that readers have at least a passing familiarity with the characters. We lost some steam in #2, but this book still feels pretty strong overall. The book might benefit from more firmly anchoring us to Lucy as the protagonist.

Great art, outstanding pacing, and an interesting story. Some aspects are a little choppy but overall it's very cool.

Solid. A few scattered moments of choppiness and weak dialogue are not serious flaws. This feels like a proper Ms. Marvel book, noticeably stronger than the last mini.

I don't mind what they're doing here but wouldn't it work better if it was more all-ages(ish) and marketed more clearly toward younger readers?

The art is fine and the narrative boldly--maybe too boldly--throws the reader into the deep end, but that's not a deal-breaker as long as the book keeps the information flowing in the next few issues. The pacing in this first issue is mixed; they pack in a lot of content but are holding back a lot of information from the reader while also wasting entire pages on imagery that doesn't build the world or move the story forward, so that's not ideal. Still, this is a workable premise dealing with timely themes that looks to be getting off to a reasonably energetic start.

This is a great approach to Nightwing overall. Just like every female detective doesn't have to be an alcoholic about to lose custody of her kids, not every Batman-adjacent person needs to be a dumpster fire. The weaknesses in dialogue and narration are easy to forgive. This is a strong book.

Healthy relationships? In comics??!

Still unapologetically doing its own thing. It's not very subtle and there are some definite narrative weaknesses here, but this is a book that has its own identity and isn't relying on lazy writing or any tediously exhausted, load-bearing tropes. Do you know how rare that is in this comics landscape?

This is a strong book that sort of defies genre; the art and vibes are at odds with the premise and the direction of the story, and the result is something readable and quite unpredictable. It's very much doing its own thing and not apologizing for it. Completely bonkers. I love it.

For me, this is a near-perfect book. The art and story work together beautifully, and while there's nothing particularly earth-shattering about it, it just reads very smoothly and sidesteps all the things that usually annoy me. If it can stay fresh and avoid predictable tropes, it'll be perfect. I can't say enough good things about it. Highly recommended.

I love this series. The art, pace, and tone are on point. This issue felt a little light in terms of forward movement compared to previous ones, but this simple, earnest book is still incredibly refreshing and easy to recommend.

This book continues to deliver. The narrative is no-frills, yet polished. Heartfelt, but not trying too hard. The art is to die for. The only possible complaint is that there's not much story progression in each issue, but it's still great. The fact that it's all-ages is wonderful.

This run is pretty uneven, but #18 was strong. Good art, the internal monologues were coherent and not especially pretentious, and the story moved forward. This isn't the Poison Ivy solo book that we deserve, but it's pretty consistently entertaining and fresh by virtue of having a genuinely distinct feel from most cape books.

This is a perfectly good origin story, but it raises questions. Do we *need* this origin story shown to us in detail when these events were explained to us earlier in the run? It's clearly to give weight to the events of #18 and the inevitable future conflict with this bad guy, but is it worth it to kill what little momentum the book had going for it? This run started off so strongly because Poison Ivy as a badass drifter antihero was a great premise. The further we get from that, the more evident the weaknesses are becoming. It's not impossible to tell a Therapy 101 story and a comic book story simultaneously, but the components need to be integrated organically. Ironically, they aren't in this book, although I appreciate the symbolism about internalization.

So the origin story that we're expanding here is from 1997, near as I can tell. 26ish years feels like enough time to justify revisiting it, although I can't get over how we're calling it a 'Secret Origin' when it's been canonically covered at least twice already. At any rate, if we're going to put the actual plot on hold and waste 3 issues on this, this seems like a pretty good way to do it--the storytelling within the issue feels great, although it has the same tonal issues that the rest of the run does. It's perfectly enjoyable to read and the balance of comic book zaniness and more grounded content is in a good place. I just feel for whatever poor editor at DC has the thankless job of keeping Wilson's horny AO3 side in check. I'd imagine that it looks a lot like the opening scene of this issue.

It reads well and I liked the setup with the brunette in the Asylum; now she can reappear later in the story and Pam will have someone else to hook up with and/or battle. Maybe Ivy was due for a soft retcon/origin refresher, but we really should've done it between story arcs, not in the middle of one. Or at least not for 3 issues.

The art is fine, but the dialogue and exposition are immersion-breakingly lazy. I thought that maybe the recap box at the beginning of the issue was done that way on purpose, but then the whole issue is that way and all we get is setup; nothing happens. The story is serviceable but the execution is noticeably unspectacular. I hope it picks up; the previous arc wasn't amazing, but I enjoyed it.

A little slow and expository, but a definite step in the right direction. I'm a little puzzled by the cover.

It's harmless, but there's not much in the way of story or characterization here, and this book actually manages to hint at some interesting stuff without ever going near it. This last hunt arc feels like a one-shot worth of story stretched over four issues. It's not openly bad in any way beyond having no plot, it's just hard not to see how it could've been much more.

I'm struggling with this book. The second issue worked well enough as store brand/legally distinct Frank Castle, but what are we doing here? What is the point of this guy? Does he have specific story-driven motives are are we really, unironically, with a completely straight face going to make him just Castle but not Castle? The author could be taking us somewhere interesting and I'm just jumping the gun here since it's only #3, but the hallucinations in this issue were tough to get through. There are a gazillion issues of perfectly good Frank Castle brooding, tormenting himself comics out there, not to mention the 2004 movie. It's 2024! We've done all this. It's like watching Bruce Wayne's parents get shot over and over. Tedious.

This issue is a definite step up from the last. Here, Definitely-Not-Castle kills people in mostly straightforward ways with good art and one-liners pulled from any 90s action movie, which I have to assume is what readers want from a Punisher comic. Unfortunately, the people getting killed are all one-dimensional, generic evil goons for a painfully standard evil organization that we have no reason to care about. The main character's motivations are also still on shaky ground due to it all being an underwritten speedrun of the Castle origin story. It is truly bizarre to see Marvel in 2024 double down and play straight with "Lost your loved ones? Struggling to cope? Try murder!"

Despite the hilariously esoteric tangle that X-Men has become, this issue was shockingly coherent with only a reasonable amount of convoluted, overly cryptic shenanigans that define this era of X books. We have to knock off some points because this multiple mini format for telling this story is just not the best way to go about it, but what are we going to do? Stop reading it? Of course not. That Gillen is able to make this readable at all is a considerable achievement.

Still more convoluted than it needs to be. Still very enjoyable.

Same as the other minis telling different parts of this story: interesting stuff being presented in the most obnoxious way imaginable. A bunch of different minis is not the way to tell an already terminally convoluted story.

I could nitpick this down to a 9.5 if I really wanted to, but I don't. This book reminds me of "Aliens" (1986) in that it's a very straightforward idea that's elevated by outstanding across-the-board, maximum-effort execution.

Seems fine for what it is. I don't love the way the dialogue is lettered.

This book has nothing going on in it, and I like it more than almost any other book I'm reading right now. I don't know what that says about me or about comics, but Rowell's run continues to be very enjoyable. Alarmingly, Captain Marvel is only in this issue briefly but she has more personality in two pages here than she's had in like 4 issues of her ongoing book. Maybe Rowell should do a book about Captain Marvel doing nothing next. I'd buy it.

Tough to find flaws. Rowell has found a great balance of action and relationships; even stories with much lower stakes can be much more compelling if we actually care about the characters. The art is good. The occasional moment of weak dialogue is not enough to hold this comic back. There are some tropes here that open it to criticism, but I feel as though they work in the context of a low-stakes story that's intended to be a breezy read. By far my favorite ongoing Marvel book.

The story framework couldn't be more basic: drama over Jack and inevitably making friends with Ganymede and, knowing this run, probably helping her lose her virginity isn't exactly breaking new ground--but it's *fun.* Remember when comics were fun? Low-stakes books with strong focuses on their characters continue to be some of the strongest around.

Simple and harmless, this is perhaps the dullest way to go about reviving this IP. Humor? Self-awareness? No. Some expansion on the storytelling or characterization to make it interesting for modern audiences? No. This comic just takes the OG Space Ghost and plays it completely straight with dialogue that might be sort of throwback or it might just be bad. The art is fine but does nothing with the potential that the zany setting offers. Striking visuals could almost carry a book like this, and the goofy weirdness of the times opens the door for that, but there's nothing remotely ambitious or imaginative here. This comic isn't egregiously bad, it's just bland and a little irksome because there probably are ways to make Space Ghost interesting and relevant, but this isn't it.

Not much stands out in this book, good or negative. The main pro is that it's an easy, inoffensive read. The downside is squandering good characters. Finding a balance between fluffy content and cape shenanigans is objectively difficult; even Rainbow Rowell hasn't completely nailed it. I think it would honestly be better to choose a lane, and in this case, given who is most likely to want to buy a Spider-Gwen book, just lean into the slice of life and not shoehorn in some obligatory punching. A book just about the band doing band things would probably be more cohesive and work better.

This is a jumbled mess. Tone, pacing, structure--these things have no meaning in this mini. The art is amazing and there are some ideas here for very interesting stories, but none of that is being executed. We have lots of dialogue that accomplishes nothing and action that's dependent on a conveniently absent spider-sense while this particular Gwen remains the most passive, incompetent costumed hero with maybe the least amount of agency I've ever seen in a protagonist. Meanwhile, the book obviously wants to tell a potentially interesting story about relationships but keeps... not doing it in favor of filler dialogue and Gwen being terrible at her job. The art is so good, too. You hate to see it.

The art was good and that's a great cover on #4. The rest was a baffling mess. I guess a lack of focus and identity was the main problem; this should've been a series for young readers and marketed as such with a more coherent story about any of the following: A) Gwen and MJ B) Gwen and Dazzler C) Gwen vs bad guy(s) D) Gwen and her self-confidence, but not more than two of those things. Honestly, an all-ages Spider-Gwen series written by someone like Tini Howard, and focused on the band, could be absolutely killer.

So I've been wondering what it would look like if someone did one of these retro minis really well, and it would look something like this! Great art. Themes that are true to the spirit of the book and the character, and finding a way to do something narratively that doesn't feel like going through the motions. The device of having an ostensibly more grown and experienced Peter narrating the story seemed to work well here. This isn't a rehash of old-timey Spider-Man, it's a re-examination of it and it has a lot of potential.

This book isn't exactly swinging for the fences, but maybe the simplicity is a strength and not a weakness. The Gang War backdrop adds absolutely nothing to it, but that's not Foxe's fault; it's a weak event. #3 is an easy read, but leaning a little hard on the "Jessica is only as competent as the plot needs her to be," trope.

What is happening? I've usually liked Foxe's work in the past and this run started out at least functional. This feels so weird with Madame Web just coming out. Do writers just hate Spider-Wom(e)n? There are some decent story beats happening here, but the level of bonkers stupidity is just egregious. We have to suspend disbelief for comics, but everything about this issue breaks immersion. What did I just read? At least I can't criticize the pacing; they packed a lot of antics into one issue.

Much better than what came before. The balance of zaniness and seriousness is not working in the book in a broad sense. I think it would work better if it picked a lane, and zany would definitely be the better lane. The way that Bailey is presented in this book is certainly interesting. I honestly can't tell if it's foreshadowing or not. At any rate, I enjoyed most of this issue.

This title really struggles. The story and questionable action stuff would be easier to forgive if the voice worked, but Jess herself and the dialogue in a broader sense are all off. This is not working.

In this issue, Jess pats herself on the back for being an excellent stealthy spy just before a big glowing zappy hulk apparently sneaks up on her. That's the high point of another round of endless samey thought narration about the past instead of things actually happening in the present and having no supporting cast, unifying theme, or anything really going on beyond Jess being bland and indeed not very good at spying. If all the ruminating on her past is meant to show how she's grown as a character, I hope we're going to address why she's suddenly so bad at everything. I am once again asking: why does Marvel hate Spider-Woman?

This is readable enough, but I didn't feel like it worked, especially as its own mini. If it's a story taking place apart from the continuity, it didn't bring enough to the table to be an effective study of the character. It wasn't spooky or scary enough despite some solid imagery, and while "Villain does hilariously elaborate cruel thing for cruelty's sake" is an acceptable motivation for a comic book, that inherent silliness doesn't mesh well with the seriousness of the material that the author is trying to have a conversation with. Meanwhile, had this been an arc in ASM it might have worked to set up a further story in which Peter grappled with his new trauma material to grow the character in some way, but that too would have been tiresome because who's asking for more PTSD stories in 2024? Most of this book isn't egregiously bad; it just didn't really come together.

I like Superior in general, but this issue fell a little too far at the sloppy/indulgent end of the spectrum. The story logic in the last few pages didn't quite click for me. The art is great and the book is very readable, although this run still hasn't really firmly established its reason for existing. I would guess that we're here to either rehabilitate or kill off Otto; of the two options, rehabilitation seems like the more interesting.

Profoundly dumb, yet I'm enjoying it anyway. Curious.

Completely bonkers, but in a fun way.

Taking the literal trappings of 1939 Batman and playing it straight with modern storytelling sensibilities is a fun and worthy take. Very enjoyable with good art and enough content to take the sting off the 7 dollar price tag.

I'm not sure it's doing as much with the premise as it could, but it's thoroughly enjoyable.

It takes some courage to attempt a book like this, and as of #3 it's working pretty well. A little slow and pretentious, but in this case that fits the vibe and the subject matter. As it's going now, I would strongly recommend. Fingers crossed that it doesn't stray into the problematic.

Outstanding.

The square/magazine format probably wasn't necessary, but I can forgive it on the strength of the book. It's simple and straightforward, but the beautiful art and effective, if minimalist, storytelling come together nicely. The cute/tearjerking stuff feels a little cheap, but it's awfully well-executed. Guess I'll need to get some magazine-sized boards, because I want to read more.

Nice to look at and although it hasn't done anything particularly new or original, it hits solid, emotionally resonant notes that work well and the premise has tons of potential. The charming presentation is enough to make up for the fact that the story hardly moves--it's evident, and a little melancholy to note that this book was obviously intended as a minimal-dialogue, sort of Genndy Tartakovsky style animation rather than a comic. It would certainly have worked better that way. I'll stick with it a while longer; let's see if there's a plot waiting for us down the trail somewhere. As a cartoon it could get by on visuals alone; as a comic, it will at some point need to have more of a narrative.

Delightful in every way. It's true to the source material but perfectly engaging with modern storytelling sensibilities. The art is to die for. You can tell that everyone involved in the creation of this book is having a great time. That Conan can still be entertaining after all these years is really something.

There's a good idea here and this premise can be great, but it sinks or swims on the quality of the banter, and this issue was more misses than hits. Peter's supposed to be a dweeb, but I don't think we're supposed to cringe every time he opens his mouth. The narrative jumps mainly felt choppy instead of enhancing the story or contributing to comedic timing. I want to like this book, so I hope it finds its feet.

This is a big step up from the first issue. The dialogue is better and it's a little more coherent overall. It's a start.

This felt like a huge step up from the first issue, and it makes me cautiously optimistic about the series. Also, Yelena is shockingly, jarringly better in this book than in the actual White Widow book.

This is working so well. The handling of the characters is quietly assured and not trying too hard like it was in the first issue, the story's moving forward, and the premise is fundamentally engaging. I think what makes this book work so well is that the story is tightly focused and the protagonists are always active, never passive. They're on offense all the time. That is just so refreshing. This seems to be shaping up to be a good run.

Pretty good overall.

This worked on almost every level. I'm genuinely a little excited to see what they do with it.

A surprisingly straightforward issue delivering exactly what the book appears to promise. Fantastic art. I can't really find anything meaningful to complain about. The villains are a little wooden and does Peter not have spider-sense? In any case, this is certainly the most interesting spider book at the moment.

Simply lovely. It must be killing Hickman to write something that you don't need a PhD to read. Is this really all it took to make Spider-Man enjoyable again?

What's not to like? Not the most ambitious issue, but that's completely fine because it was still engaging and we have every reason to have confidence in this creative team. This is a great book so far.

This is load-bearing artwork holding up a threadbare script, but I enjoyed it. $5.99 is a lot to ask for an issue that reads like a minimalist, by-the-numbers first chapter of a generic magical girl manga when $11.99 will get you the whole first volume of any magical girl manga you want. The art, the feeling of being distinct from all the other Marvel books, and the novelty of seeing where this fits into the new Ultimate stuff make it worth sticking around. The plot setup is fine while the characterization is weak, but this book deserves some time to do its thing. Even if it is just standard young X-Men manga/magical-girl style, that would by no means be the worst thing in Marvel's lineup right now, and I would welcome it.

It's a by-the-numbers manga with great facial expressions; the light horror bits help to give it some personality.

Everything here is completely fine in terms of execution, although it's on the bland side and tough PTSD lady is a very stale lead. Shape of Water kind of raised the bar on this premise, and it doesn't feel like this comic got the memo.

This continues to be an interesting premise with an annoyingly deliberate pace, an unforgivable amount of padding, and a bananas amount of edginess that adds nothing to the narrative. I'm confident that there's a good story here if the book ever gets around to starting to tell it, and I like the premise enough to keep going, but punching up the pace would go a long way for this.

Still slow and unfocused. There's a cool story in here and the comic seems determined to only tell us the least interesting parts of it. In a comic about internet cthulhu trying to invade the world, endless panels of interchangeable characters talking to each other about stuff that doesn't move the story forward just isn't playing to the strengths of the premise or the medium; comics are a visual medium. This would 100% work better as a novel, although it would still need a lot of tightening. Worldtree will one day be either an excellent movie or an interminable streaming TV series.

The story crawls forward another inch in this issue. It also in many ways begins in this issue, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, except it begins by way of a long, indulgent exposition dump. Still, it felt like a step in the right direction. The premise is strong enough that I'm willing to accept a painfully slow pace and occasional obnoxious storytelling decisions, like cutting away whenever something interesting is about to happen. This book obviously has some cool stuff in store. The question is: will we reach that stuff in this decade?

Across multiple timelines, the characters mostly tell each other the things that we already inferred in the first eight issues with lots of swearing. The story inches forward, kind of. I don't know how long it's been since the last issue, but I don't remember how eyepatch lady got captured. Mean naked lady is still naked and mean.

Readable and mostly inoffensive, but what are we doing here at all, let alone doing for eight bucks? This is a weak lineup of Spider books with an almost impressively anemic approach to storytelling, and this book seems to suggest that we should expect more of the same. It would bother me less if it had been a FCBD issue or something.

This mini is a mess, but #3 is the strongest issue so far with a focus on Yelena's antics and some genuine charm.

This book had reasonably good art, moments of charm, and themes that I personally enjoyed. But the handling of the characters ranged from underbaked to baffling and the jokes were not plentiful or strong enough to carry it. Ultimately, it came off as messy and insubstantial. I'm not opposed to a cute/funny book about Yelena, but this is not it.

A mini set in the past like this is unlikely to have major implications for the canon, which means it's really just about having some fun with the characters. The art is good and the content more or less delivers; it's not very ambitious, but it's an easy enough read. Was Claremont's Logan always so friendly and gregarious?

This second issue feels much better than the first. The book doesn't have the emotional stakes that a little throwback mini like this needs to be truly great, but it works well enough.

It's fine for what it is, but it isn't doing much to stand out.

The story moves forward, but man is this issue ripe with characters being selectively competent as the plot requires. I guess it takes some courage on the writer's part to consciously, willfully, decide that *more clones* is a good idea in a Marvel book in 2024. I have to respect that.

The story is straightforward and cohesive while remaining large in scale and attached to the broader X situation. The art and all the fundamentals are solid.

Rushed and underwhelming, but ultimately harmless.

Nothing groundbreaking, but it delivers on its premise without major flaws. A smooth read, if a little bland.

It's not quite in sync with the show in terms of vibes and voice, but it *is* in sync with the OG cartoon. It's a little insubstantial, but that's fine.

Enjoying the heck out of this run. Duggan can be clunky/choppy at times (a lot) but at the end of the day, it's working.

This was a near-perfect issue in a solid storyline. Complaints about the character death/end of a romance are inevitable, but this is Marvel comics. We'll be lucky if this character stays dead for twenty minutes; death is meaningless in comics, and even before Chuck X was a literal necromancer. What we have here otherwise is great storytelling and art that's finally getting to the good part of Fall of X.

This series continues to cruise along inoffensively. It's very readable and we're at the good part of the story, so this is prime action. However, this issue felt relatively weightless and there continue to be regular weaknesses in the dialogue. I'm still enjoying it.

Kate Pryde's edgy badass dialogue reads like a parody and Sentinel City sounds very dumb. Otherwise, this is fine with the same strengths and weaknesses as the last few issues.

I enjoyed this, but enmeshing it with the ongoing minis and stuff is unforgivably obnoxious. Why do we need 3 different minis for this? It was fine with the immediate fall of X ones because they were all doing their own thing, but this is different. I almost feel like they're making it as convoluted as possible just to see how much they can get away with, like Ticketmaster adding fees to your concert tickets just to see how many they can stack on there before you stop going.

A story that's equal parts dumb and interesting, held back mostly by the way it's being told. If we were doing this in a more coherent way, some of the silliness would be easier to overlook.